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KIRKLAND -- When the NFL free-agency period begins Friday at 12:01 a.m., think of this now-annual exercise in overpaying for players as survival of the shrewdest.

That's how most teams are approaching the process this year, including the Seahawks.

"I've heard it said that one of the best theories in free agency is to survive the first week," Tennessee Titans general manager Mike Reinfeldt said last week at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis. "The first seven days just sit back and watch things happen, because that's when all the foolish things happen."

Foolish, as in seven guards coming out of the opening week last year with multiyear contracts that averaged $7 million -- and it would have been eight if Kris Dielman had signed with the Seahawks instead of returning to San Diego.

Foolish, as in the San Francisco 49ers spending a free-agency fortune to upgrade their defense, only to rank 25th in the league -- up one whole spot from where they ranked in 2006.

But even spendthrift Redskins owner Daniel Snyder seems to have learned this lesson.

"I don't think Dan's plane is going to be fired up ready to go," said Vinny Cerrato, Redskins vice president of football operations, alluding to the team's habit of flying in free agents each year at a stroke past midnight and throwing money at them.

Neither will the Paul Allen-owned jet that was used last year to fly defensive end Patrick Kerney and safety Deon Grant from Atlanta to Seattle, a jet stream that led to them signing with the Seahawks.

The Seahawks' priority this year is retaining their own free agents, and then looking to the second tier of available players to plug a hole or two. This process already has begun.

Pro Bowl cornerback Marcus Trufant was given the franchise tag last week, which comes with a $9.465 million tender that club president Tim Ruskell admits is a "big footprint in the (salary) cap." That's why the team is continuing to pursue a more cap-friendly, multiyear deal.

Right tackle Sean Locklear has agreed to a five-year contract that could be worth as much as $32 million.

Left guard Mike Wahle was signed after being released by the Carolina Panthers, and his five-year, $20 million contract looks like a bargain compared to the money lavished on free-agent guards last year.

"Our priority in free agency is our own guys," Ruskell said. "Unfortunately, you don't always get a lot of credit for re-signing your own players. Instead it's, 'Why aren't they signing anyone?' "

That reaction -- or overreaction -- might spread leaguewide this year. Trufant was one of 12 NFL players given the franchise tag, a record-tying number that has removed from this year's talent pool the best defensive linemen (Titans tackle Albert Haynesworth and Chiefs end Jared Allen), tight ends (Philadelphia's L.J. Smith and Indianapolis' Dallas Clark, who has since signed a long-term contract), cornerbacks (Oakland's Nnamdi Asomugha and Trufant), two offensive linemen (Cincinnati guard-tackle Stacy Andrews and Carolina tackle Jordan Gross) and two linebackers (Baltimore's Terrell Suggs and Arizona's Karlos Dansby).

"It's OK," 49ers general manager Scot McCloughan said of this year's free-agent class. "With all the franchise tenders, people have the money to take care of their own guys. That's why, compared to last year's class, this year's is not as deep."

The Seahawks need to sign Trufant to a long-term deal to free money that can be used to re-sign kicker Josh Brown and valuable role players like backup middle linebacker Niko Koutouvides -- not to mention working on contract extensions for fourth-year linebackers Lofa Tatupu and Leroy Hill, who are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents next year.

The cornerback market was set (or is that skewed?) last year when the 49ers signed Nate Clemens to an eight-year, $80 million deal in free agency. The Seahawks won't go there for Trufant, but they are willing to offer "Champ Bailey money," as one league executive put it.

That's not the total seven-year, $63 million contract that Bailey got from the Broncos in 2004 after being acquired in a trade with the Redskins. The Seahawks appear willing to offer a Trufant six-year deal for closer to an average of $8 million per year; and without the $13 million in base salary and bonuses that were included in Bailey's then-record contract for a cornerback.

Wide receiver D.J. Hackett wants to test the market, and the Redskins are one team said to be interested in a player who was productive when on the field last season (29 receptions, three 100-yard performances and four touchdowns in four full games), but also missed 10 games and parts of three others -- including the playoffs -- with ankle injuries.

As much potential as he possesses, the Seahawks don't feel they can pay Hackett the kind of money he is seeking ($4 million to $5 million per year) because he has missed time because of injuries in each of his four seasons.

The club also figures it can replace Hackett in the draft, which features a deep group of receivers, or in the second tier of free agency.

"Those are the guys where you get your bang for the buck," McCloughan said of tier-two and even tier-three free agents. "Guys that come in and, if not start, become dang good backups. And you're not paying him as much as you're paying the big name."